Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon (19 June 1834-31 January 1892) was the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel (now the Metropolitan Chapel) for 38 years, founding the Evangelical Spurgeon's College in London and being known for having some of the best messages in Christian literature.

Biography
Charles Spurgeon was born on 19 June 1834 in Kelvedon, Essex, England. He originally adhered to Anglicanism, but in 1850 he converted to Baptism after reading a salvation message while stuck at a Newmarket church during a snowstorm. In 1854, Spurgeon became the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel of London, a title which he would hold for 38 years. His ability as a preacher made him famous, and in 1856 10,000 people gathered for one of his sermons in Surrey. Spurgeon founded a pastors' college in 1857, which in 1923 would be renamed Spurgeon's College. Spurgeon became known as the most popular preacher of the Victorian Era, but his opposition to slavery led to adherents of Southern Baptism in the United States abandoning him and sales of his works declining. In 1864, he gave a speech that supported the Jews returning to the promised land of Israel, although he emphasized that they would either need to be converted before then or after. Spurgeon died in 1892 at the age of 57 in Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France while recuperating from a rheumatism, gout, and a kidney disease.